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CNN Republican National Convention; Donald Trump Wins The Republican Nomination; Trump Selects JD Vance As VP. Aired 4-5p ET
Aired July 15, 2024 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:01:08]
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: We're live at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where the Republican Party's presidential ticket is now set. Donald Trump formally nominated for the top spot a little while ago, and made clear his vice presidential choice, Senator JD Vance of Ohio, who will be nominated soon.
We're told that Senator Vance is getting ready to make an appearance in his new role for the very first time.
Let's check in with CNN's Kristen Holmes, who has some new report bring on this.
And, Kristen, what are you learning about conversations between Trump and Vance before today's announcement?
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Jake, we are told that the two of them had a meeting at Trump's Mar-a-Lago home on Saturday before that rally in Pennsylvania and before that assassination attempt. Now, we did also report previously that in recent days, Donald Trump met with all of the vice presidential potential candidate I think that it's Senator Marco Rubio as well as Doug Burgum. But the timing on Vance is particularly notable and critical given what happened later that day.
Now I am told hold by a variety of sources that he had not come to any conclusion at the end of all of those in-person meetings, but he had continued to waffle back and forth looking for all of the things that he had put on his list, all they vice presidential pick including things like chemistry and securing his legacy.
Now, of course, he has officially named Vance as his running mate, but it is a notable timing even when that meeting being occurred, Jake.
TAPPER: All right. Kristen, thanks so much.
Now, let's go over to Jeff Zeleny.
Now, Jeff, what are you hearing from Republicans about Trump's decision to choose Senator Vance as running mate.
JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jake here on the floor, even as Speaker Mike Johnson moments ago sort of tabulated the delegates here for president, Donald Trump, he's announcing an escort committee talking to a variety Republicans here, there is no question. There is excitement about the pick, but there's also questions. What does Senator JD Vance bring to the ticket? What does he add to the party, talking to a variety of Republican officials looking at House and Senate races as well? Many of them were hoping for someone in the mold of Nikki Haley, if you will, someone who could win over some of those moderate voters, perhaps.
Jake, what this also has done in an instant, it has potentially changed the next race for president in 2028. Yes, it's early to talk about that. But in one tweet from the former president, naming JD Vance is running mate, is also changed this via to directory of a Republican like Governor Glenn Youngkin, like Nikki Haley, like Ron DeSantis, so many others.
So what has happened here is we see JD Vance would likely come to the floor in the coming minutes or hours we are certainly going to see what is the future of the Republican Party is well.
So, yes, there's a bit of a divide between the grassroots and the elected class, but there is no question in this decision, Donald Trump is looking ahead beyond his presidency -- Jake.
TAPPER: All right. Jeff Zeleny, thanks so much.
Let's get more insight from my panel and already the Democrats, the Biden campaign is attacking this pick saying because they pick JD Vance, because JD Vance will do what Mike Pence did not do, and that is accede to Donald Trump no matter what the Constitution says.
DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, there is no question that what we are already hearing from Democrats in addition to that, and we'll hear more and more of are JD Vance's words coming back at the voters, before he endorsed Donald Trump and before Donald Trump endorsed him when he was running for Senate in Ohio.
Yes. He wrote a book explaining to America, part of America that didn't support Donald Trump, what and who are Trump voter was, with "Hillbilly Elegy", but he also was very, very dismissive tip of animosity towards Donald Trump.
[16:05:02]
The one example, he was on our show on "STATE OF THE UNION" with me in May, right after the or during the "Access Hollywood", the hush money trial, and I asked him about something that he said after the access Hollywood tape came out and he said: Fellow Christians, everyone is watching us when we apologize for this man. Lord, help us.
He then deleted that tweet.
Vance's response in May, was, look, my view on Donald Trump, I have been very clear on this. I was wrong about him. I didn't think he was going to be a good president. I was very, very proud to be proven wrong. It's one of the reasons why I'm working so hard to get him elected.
So that's his sort of spin on the change but it is an example of what you just said that he is somebody who very much in one maybe changed his tune on Donald Trump.
TAPPER: And, Chris Wallace, if you can hear me over the sound of Grand Funk Railroad, it is also going to be interesting though so to see Kamala Harris versus JD Vance in a vice presidential debate. I actually look forward to that.
CHRIS WALLACE, CNN HOST: Absolutely, I just such a statement about where these two parties are and what they wanted to communicate to voters. You look at JD Vance, hard line on a lot of these issues -- very hard line on some social issues. One of the things that the party talks about and that I know that the Trump people want is the idea of strength versus weakness, as they proceed the Democrats, masculine versus feminine.
And, you know, JD Vance certainly not to agree, with their premise of the case, but that's certainly is JD Vance is right. What Donald Trump was looking for a debate between JD Vance with his hard-line views and has very much blue collar rock round, although he did end up going to Yale Law School versus Kamala Harris, was would really be an interesting choice for America.
ABBY PHILLIP, CNN HOST: Look, for our campaign that's running against Kamala Harris being not ready to be president, they picked someone who has quite a lot less experience than she did, even when she is descended to the vice presidency. I mean, I forgot who was saying this, but just also the reps of running for an office, running for the national office. It is something that takes practice.
I mean, when you when I covered the 2020s, seeing all those Democrats, many of whom were running for the very first time, the Republican primary this time around, many Republicans running through this first time. It takes them a long time to get into the groove of the scrutiny of a campaign, of what it's like to really, actually not just be a surrogate, to be the nominee.
And I think for JD Vance, that's going to be a learning curve for him because he's only done it once, only done it once.
TAPPER: Coming up, we're about to yet are very first look at Donald Trump's vice presidential pick, Senator JD Vance, Republican of Ohio.
Stay with us. We'll bring you much more of our special convention coverage right after this quick break.
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[16:12:09]
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: The Republican National Convention.
Donald Trump's newly revealed running mate, Senator JD Vance, is getting ready to make his debut as the party's vice presidential candidate. We expect Vance to be officially nominated just moments from now.
Let's check in with Kaitlan Collins, who's on the floor with delegates from Ohio, Senator Vance's home state -- Kaitlan.
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN HOST: Yeah, Anderson. It wasn't long ago that the delegate here behind me did not know that the senator from their own snake was going to be Donald Trump's running mate. But, of course, now, Donald Trump has been confirmed and I am standing right in front of the Ohio delegation, as you say, there is quite a crowd here, basically everyone on the floor all the media has gathered over here. A lot of interests by delegates as well, because we are expecting Senator Vance to walk down that aisle. That is the first time we'll be seeing him since Donald Trump announced that he has selected him to be his running mate, and on that ticket.
So, obviously, we'll watch him very closely to see what he says when he speaks to the microphone. He's someone who has been asked basically in every media appearance and last four months or so, if he is going to serve as Donald Trump's running mate, he has made clear that he would have liked to have taken that job and he was always a little bit coy as most president told, candidates and contenders typically are.
So we are waiting on Senator Vance to walk down this aisle. Any moment here, Anderson, for the first time since he was announced as the pick.
COOPER: Kaitlan, we'll come back to you shortly for that.
We also learned today back here with the panel, we also learned that Donald Trump has met with Robert Kennedy Jr. today in Milwaukee. That meeting took place short time ago. It said that they also discussed the selection of JD Vance.
ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: And it was a smart call for Donald Trump to get out there and got ahead and say that RFK Jr. should have Secret Service protection because he is somebody who's pulling it a certain threshold. And because of this moment of political violence that we're living in.
It's obviously the political thought there is that he wants to chip away at some of his support and that there may be a moment where RFK Jr. is going to endorse in this race, when it becomes clear there's absolutely no potential for him to himself be the presidents.
So I think it's smart to make inroads there. I think the Biden team would be wise to as well.
SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: You think Joe Biden should meet with RFK Jr.?
GRIFFIN: I mean, it be hilarious --
(LAUGHTER)
JENNINGS: I mean, look, I mean, if somehow you think about what's going on here in the last few days starting with the debate and then you've got Trump getting cleared up on some of his legal stuff then he survives this assassination attempt. He has this successful convention, which by the way, NBC News poll that came out like 70 percent of Republicans are satisfied with their choices, only 30 something percent of Republicans aren't. I mean, he's coming out with a unified party. And he instinctively knows that if he could get like the RFK crowd back in -- I mean, this is a guy who is locked in on one thing, winning the election.
I mean, you just think about what's happening in the circumstances and the actions, they're on a positive vector right now, and they're the only ones.
[16:15:07]
KATE BEDINGFIELD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: But this is why I'm not sure that JD Vance choice makes a ton of sense.
VAN JONES, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yeah.
BEDINGFIELD: Because I think he as we've discussed, I mean, he's somebody who absolutely doubles down, triples down on the things that Donald Trump is most vulnerable on. So, you know, the world that the universe of candidates that he could have chosen to signal to people, I'm serious about this message of unity. I believe this is a moment we all need to come together.
And he picks somebody who has done anything but that he picked the person who came out immediately after the shooting and said this was Joe Biden's fault. So you know, I'm not so sure that this is a strategic matter, makes a ton of sense. It will be really interesting to see when JD Vance speaks, it will be really interesting to see where does he go with this? Does he tried to make an appeal to our better angels or do we hear the JD Vance that we've gotten for the last 18 months, two years.
JONES: I mean, I agree. I don't -- I don't think this is about I'm trying to win. This is about I assume I'm going to win.
BEDINGFIELD: Yes.
JONES: And now I'm trying to govern.
BEDINGFIELD: Yes.
JONES: And so for me, if you're trying to win, you don't pick somebody says no exception for rape and incest. He says that women should stay in abusive marriages for the kid -- I mean when you see this stuff that JD Vance is on record good for and he sort of switch -- fever swamp that you're talking about, that's not a campaigning choices, it's a governing choice.
Except in one possible area which is that he does have this tech bro background and people like Peter Teal, people have mentioned Elon Musk, they're -- I don't know if you will understand, there's something is happening in Silicon Valley where there is this sort of right-wing libertarian backlash to the so-called woke agenda, in those folks have been bubbling and bumbling, trying to find a champion and a horse to ride. If they see JD Vance is that horse, there could be money behind it.
But if you're trying to win an election, where suburban women are still up for grabs. This is one of the worst choices you can make, given that the -- given the field.
COOPER: Although if -- I mean, if it's key for Biden to win in Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, does the does JD Vance helpful?
JONES: Well, I think it's hard for Biden to win in Ohio any way at this point. But you're from Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, yeah, that might be somewhat helpful. But I just think that there are other people can help you with that. They don't have this other baggage.
JENNINGS: I don't think --
JONES: How do you see it?
JENNINGS: Well, I think Vance will help in that area. I do think Trump's going to win Ohio anyway. I don't think Donald Trump is going to subjugate his positions to JD Vance's, whatever oppo your peddling and what are you -- what you're talking about?
BEDINGFIELD: Oppo? These are things you see.
(CROSSTALK)
JONES: Oppo known as back spin.
JENNINGS: Whatever is -- I mean, Trump -- Trump is not going to subjugate himself to anyone else's agenda, just like he threw Project 2025 under the bus and put out his own RNC platform, he's going to do whatever he's going to do.
And I actually -- Trump's a lot more moderate than people think or want to give -- you listen to him. He's a lot more moderate. He's tossed a lot of Republican orthodoxy out the window. Inside of him somewhere is an independent, not a party person. And I just don't believe he's going to adopt anything JD Vance has said, if he thinks it's not helpful.
GRIFFIN: I think he's been in the best news cycle of his life, Donald Trump has, in this actually kind --
JENNINGS: He's on offense, yeah.
GRIFFIN: But this is -- this is the best thing that's happened to Biden in a really bad news cycle is there finally somebody that Democrats can throw their ire at. There's somebody that there is a lot to put out there. His previous statements accusing against him.
If this was Doug Burgum, I don't even know what Jen O'Malley Dillon would be saying to the other than oh, he's a little bit conservative, but this is somebody that there's --
(CROSSTALK)
JENNINGS: They're the same thing.
GRIFFIN: I am curious at a moment when there is a very real conversation about Biden continuing in the race. Does the JD Vance of it change it? If he's someone who's seen as more extreme, is there a push of maybe we need to reconsider our ticket?
BEDINGFIELD: I -- go ahead.
JONAH GOLDBERG, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I was going to say I agree this is the luckiest stretch any president, I mean, has had a very long time. The court case today basically, killing all that.
But one of the biggest things that has not that -- one of the biggest sources of his good luck is that for reasons that I find bizarre, it is utterly killed the conversation, at least in public, about replacing Joe Biden from the ticket, even though the assassination attempt on Joe Biden -- I mean, on Donald Trump completely eviscerated, at least for the foreseeable future, I'm not sure forever, but for the time being, the core argument that Joe Biden had spent millions of dollars and months and invest in, in, which is that Donald Trump is the -- is the architect of violations against political norms that he is a threat to democracy. I think a lot of those criticisms are still valid, but you're not allowed to say them and you certainly not allowed to say 'em the way that Joe Biden has been saying 'em.
And to me, this makes the argument quite well for someone saying, hey, look, we've got to turn the page. We got these two grumpy old men yelling at each other. This is the politics of the past and get some fresh blood in there who can articulate these arguments in a new way, when you have 33 percent of Democrats saying they're happy with their own choice.
JONES: But --
GOLDBERG: That's an opportunity and yet it's killed it for some reason, that conversation.
[16:20:00]
BEDINGFIELD: Well, but I don't -- I would just say quickly, I mean, I think part of the reason that it has muted that conversation and why I think the Vance pick doesn't argue for Biden to be replaced is in some ways it does bring the conversation about the race, the narrative of the presidential race back to a place where Joe Biden is strong.
I mean, this is the soul of the nation argument. This is protecting democracy. This is a sense of, we want somebody in the office who has wisdom and experience and a steady hand.
I mean, I think the dynamics of this conversation go back to places Joe Biden is stronger and so, I think that that is a compelling reason.
I would also just say Scott said a few minutes ago that Donald Trump is a moderate and I just don't think can let that hang out in the air. JENNIGS: He is --
(CROSSTALK)
BEDINGFIELD: This is the guy who put --
GOLDBERG: Bannon says he is.
(LAUGHTER)
BEDINGFIELD: Yes, because Steve Bannon says he is moderate.
(CROSSTALK)
JENNINGS: -- traditional conservative Republican.
(CROSSTALK)
JENNINGS: He's not. He never has been. And he beat them.
BEDINGFIELD: Three justices on the Supreme Court who overturn Roe versus Wade, which has been the conservative goal for the last 50 years.
JENNINGS: He has conservative views and he's done some conservative -- but he is not the same as Ted Cruz. He is not the same as the Heritage, he's just -- he's not an orthodox, conservative Republican in the way you all have tried to define or malign them for the last several decades. He is different and everybody knows it and it's one of the reasons he has some of working class appeals.
JONES: You know what? I agree with you because the traditional conservative Republican would not support an insurrection. A traditional conservative Republican would not say he's going to pardon traitors and treasonous people who attacked our government. And you're correct, he's not -- he's worse. He's worse, he's much worse.
But I think, you know, part of the reason that JD Vance matters isn't for these kind of short term electoral calculations. He matters because what he means for a Republican Party long term. This is cementing a kind of nationalism.
Now, Trump -- to your point, I agree with you. He's an instinctive, impulsive, intuitive nationalist. JD Vance is an ideological nationalist.
That's a much more dangerous virus because he can make this -- he can polish this stuff and make it seem palatable to people. He can sell this stuff to Silicon Valley. You can sell this stuff to other places.
And what it does is it locks the Republican Party on a path way that I think is dangerous for the world, again, the Ukrainians are now in deep trouble. NATO is now in deep trouble. Trump is, you get a gone with it with Nikki Haley, and signal to the world, hey, listen, I got to get stuck to my base, but I'm not going to abandon the world. This pick is a horror on the world stage. So JD Vance matters because
Donald Trump is pointing the Republican Party in a very scary direction for the long term.
BEDINGFIELD: Hear, hear.
JENNINGS: Let me -- let me -- let me --
JONES: How do you see it?
JENNINGS: Here's how I see it. Number one, the idea that Biden is now running against Vance, Biden is running against Trump, and he's currently losing to Trump.
BEDINGFIELD: Agree. I'm not --
JENNINGS: Vance is actually running against Kamala Harris, who not popular. I don't know if you've got checked the papers today, not popular, very unpopular.
And so, if you want to have a debate about which ticket is more politically nimble, which ticket is more politically palatable right now, I'm not certain that elevating the conversation about well, let's, let's really focus on the vice presidents is going to help the Democratic Party because -- I mean, the principal reason Biden is still in the race is because no Democrats want Harris to be at the top of the ticket, I think right now. They're afraid of how unpopular she is.
And so you know what? I think ultimately its not going to make a ton of difference on peoples votes but on the margins, if you want to discuss the relative popularity and extremism of VPs? I'll take it. I'll take the debate.
Let's just go back to Jake in Milwaukee -- Jake.
TAPPER: Thanks, Anderson.
We're taking it to the streets here. We got the sounds of the Doobie Brothers behind me, even though Michael McDonald is a fake elector and the chair of the Nevada Republican Party about is not that Michael McDonald, that we are honoring, right now.
John King asked by CNN if he would consider running for the Senate in Ohio, Vivek Ramaswamy noted that if I were asked to serve in that, I would strongly consider that's where -- that's where we are already. The JD Vance --
DAVID URBAN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I tweeted that out 15 minutes ago.
TAPPER: Oh, is that right? You're ahead of Ramaswamy.
URBAN: I was ahead of Ramaswamy.
It'll be at appointed -- you know, you'll have an appointment. TAPPER: The governor -- the Republican --
URBAN: Governor DeWine will get to appoint him if and when they get elected, and I look, I think that has a nice ring to it.
BASH: If they have to win first.
TAPPER: Boy, a lot of popcorn, a lot of popcorn --
URBAN: Oh, come on, come on, Dana.
TAPPER: A lot of -- a lot of champagne and popcorn.
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: But it, again, raises the organizing fact of this convention of how this is so Donald Trump's party in 2016, we talked about earlier, Ted Cruz and others were trying to take it away. 2020, we didn't really have a convention because of COVID.
After January 6th, 2021, most of the establishment Republican Party said we got to get rid of this guy.
DAVID AXELROD, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yeah.
KING: We got to get rid of this guy. We've got to break from him. He is bad for us.
Now you have Mitch McConnell on the floor here given -- he get booed, but being the man who gives Donald Trump Kentucky's votes.
[16:25:00]
You have Mike DeWine, who during COVID as the governor of Ohio, was on TV all the time saying Anthony Fauci was doing a great job, and the Biden administration is being very helpful.
You have Glenn Youngkin, who has always tried to have the never really harshly critical of Trump. But let me try to keep my distance because I hope he goes away because I'm not that kind of a Republican. He's going to speak tonight. I was walking around here earlier than our dinner last night, my first convention, Wallace has beat by a couple, 1988, and there are delegates here who were part of the George H.W. Bush movement, right, Reagan, Bush Republicans.
And they know what has happened in the state parties where you constantly stand up to Donald Trump, he has you first and you're not here. Those people are gone. And so they adapt and they say, I want to stay in the clubs, and so they just mute their criticisms and they show up. Don't -- it's a huge victory for Donald Trump.
TAPPER: Yeah.
KING: Let's take a time that this is his party.
TAPPER: Let's go to Kaitlan Collins right now who has some more reporting on President Trump and Senator JD Vance -- Kaitlan. (MUSIC)
TAPPER: All right. I'm told Kaitlan's audio is not working even though I hear just fine, apparently.
What you -- and you talked, John, about the purging of Republican state officials. It's obviously -- I'm not telling you anything you don't know. It's not just that. It's the forces in the Republican Party who stood up to Donald Trump, especially when it comes to the overview attempt to overturn it the election are, have been purged from office.
Liz Cheney, who was the House conference chair, not only removed from her position he has the candidate primary her and supported that person and Congresswoman Cheney is not in the party anymore. Congressman Kinzinger is not in Congress anymore.
I don't think we're going to see Senator Mitt Romney here. It's Mike Lee gave the delegates from Utah. It is the end of at least -- for at least temporarily of voices that stand up to Donald Trump when it comes to what no president has had ever attempted before, which is to overturn an election.
KING: And oddly, one of the criticisms we are hearing here is from the anti-abortion movement, right? Which was grateful for Donald Trump for the Supreme Court picks, but does not like the platform and other social conservatives because they have moderated or watered down whatever you want to term you want to use, language about same-sex marriage and abortion that has been the Republican platform for as long as I've been covering national politics.
And so, it's just -- it's weird. The people now, they don't have -- they don't have the numbers. They don't have the voices but it's just we live in a very different world and again, that's to his credit, you may not like it, but he dominates this party.
AXELROD: I mean, what's really extraordinary and you sort of touched on it back in the fall of 2022 after a lot of the candidates that he's supported crashed and burned to talk in the Republican Party was this guy is a cancer. We can't go with Trumpism. We need to end, and remember, Ron DeSantis was held up as the as and from that moment and to four indictments, one conviction, he now is a colossus within the Republican Party.
It's -- it's quite something. The question is -- does this translate into a consensus nationally? Right now, he's benefiting from the image of strength, which this will contribute to and concerns about Biden. It still doesn't resolve the question as to whether what Biden -- what Trump is selling is something that the country as a whole wants to buy.
WALLACE: David, if I can go back even further, I was just looking at Trump's fair speech at Joint Base Andrews, when he left on January 20th, 2020 -- 2021. Instead of appearing at the inauguration, attending the inauguration of Joe Biden, he said, goodbye, we love you, and we'll back in some form. He left in utter disagree, this is after January 6. He had already
been impeached because second time by the House of Representatives. The idea -- I mean, just big picture that that man who left Washington in disgrace is now one step away from regaining the White House, it's one of the great political comeback stories of all time. You can love it or hate it, but it's a --
URBAN: So, what does that say about America, right? We're missing something. Everybody is missing something.
PHILLIP: I think -- this is exactly what I was going to say. I think that one of them big missteps, a lot of people make is mistaking perhaps Joe Biden's weakness for Donald Trump's strength. He still has problems with a lot of voters in this country. Don't mistake that.
I think Joe Biden is in a historically weak position. His approval rating is very low, he does not have not solidified his base. And so, when Donald Trump's solidifies his, which it was apparent at least to me that he would but after the Republican primary, it puts him just in that sweet spot to really at -- potentially edge out his opponent.
[16:30:10]
But I don't think his problems in the suburbs are solved. I don't think his problems with -- with non-white women, maybe not so non- white men, are resolved. I think Donald Trump still has quite a lot of problems on the electoral map that are not as important, I guess when your opponent is weaker, like Biden is.
KASIE HUNT, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Yeah. Well, in that that, is exactly the frame that the Trump team wanted for this entire election. Strength versus weakness and the enormous changes, that we have seen in this race, these out of extraordinary events. First, the debate. And then, of course, the assassination attempt. And Donald Trump's reaction in the moment to stop his service detail, put his fist in the air and say fight -- those two things taken together have sent this race direction that undoubtedly benefits Donald Trump and plays right into what they want.
We also, I think want to note that we're seeing now from Jason Miller, pictures of the Trump team already plastering Vance underneath the name Trump on the plane.
TAPPER: They just have to replace him a letter, right?
BASH: I think -- I think Pence has been gone for --
PHILLIP: Color now than it used be.
TAPPER: That's a different color.
That's right. Let's go back to Kaitlan Collins. I'm told her microphone issues have been resolved -- Kaitlan.
COLLINS: Yes, Jake, I believe you can hear us now. It is quite loud. I will note, we're just a few feet away from the band. But the reason that there were people surrounding me is because Senator JD Vance is expected to walk down this aisle behind me.
We are standing right by the Ohio delegation. Any moment now, Jake, just something that we're learning when JD Vance learn that he was Donald Trump's pick to be his running mate, I am told by a source familiar there's 20 minutes before Donald Trump posted on Truth Social that he called Senator Vance to notify him that -- yes, he had indeed picked him to be his running.
So just shows you how quickly all of this was happening. I spoke to Senator Tuberville on the floor either earlier, he spoke to Donald Trump this morning and said, as of 7:30 a.m., he was still mulling who exactly he was going to pick and was asking Senator Tuberville's advice. He did not tell me ruby recommended. But, of course, we've now learned Senator Vance himself found out just about 20 minutes before that announcement actually came down officially on Truth Social, Jake.
Of course, it's not official until you hear it from Donald Trump himself.
TAPPER: That is correct.
Kaitlan Collins. Thanks so much. We are expecting Ohio Republican Senator JD Vance to come out onto the floor of the Republican National Convention here in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, at any minute.
But one thing that I do think is important and perhaps under-discussed right now, Kaitlan, is the fact that this battle for the Electoral College will be waged in Wisconsin, where we are. Michigan and Pennsylvania, that is, as now according to polls as of now, John King can correct me if I'm wrong, but that is pretty much Joe Biden's only path, don't you think?
I mean, is there -- is there some -- is there some other course for Joe Biden to win given today's polling?
KING: Given today's polling, no.
TAPPER: Yeah.
KING: Given today's polling, the safest bet for Biden and he does this from a position of weakness, is Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin --
TAPPER: Wisconsin --
(CROSSTALK)
KING: --which again, you know, Hillary Clinton lost those states. Donald Trump became president.
TAPPER: Yes.
KING: Joe Biden flipped them back and became president. He had a bigger margin because he also flipped Georgia and he flipped Arizona, Biden did, and he held Nevada.
Right now, if you look at it and I don't think -- anybody wants to disagree, jump in, if you know, Trump is favored in Georgia, right? The new flip, the new purple state, if you will, Trump his trip on. Trump is favorite in Arizona, Trump is favorite in Nevada, a state that is tend to is moved from a once -- once a Republican state, then a battleground state has become reliably Democratic.
But to Abby's point earlier, a Latino man especially Trump's, call it cynical if you wish, but I'll eliminate taxation on tips, was the biggest economic driver in the hospitality.
BASH: Nevada.
KING: Nevada.
TAPPER: Right, but he was way ahead long before he introduced the notes, the taxes tips.
KING: So, but, after -- and so if you're -- if you're Biden and you want to sneak out a 270, it's Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin and then we'll have this conversation down the road. Can you hold Nebraska, too? You know, Nebraska and Maine award electoral votes by congressional district.
TAPPER: Right.
KING: You hold that. The district right around Omaha, the blue districts. And I'll say this, the meeting this morning with Robert Kennedy, you know, they say they discussion national unity. There are other reports that Trump tried to win an endorsement there, when a Republican convention, Donald Trump earned the right to be this nominee. He won the nomination convincing this is his weak to tell his story and introduce JD Vance.
But anyone who wants to talk about this as a Trump-Biden race is making a huge mistake.
TAPPER: Right. Again, to the point, Donald Trump cant get to 50 in a lot of these states.
[16:35:00]
There is not majority support for Trumpism. Abby's right, he has a lot of problems. But Joe Biden has more problems.
TAPPER: So the only one I wanted to make was that JD Vance is the son of Ohio and Ohio is not Pennsylvania, Michigan, or Wisconsin, but it is a Midwestern state. And I think it's not -- just in term geographically, he speaks Midwestern, you know?
BASH: No question about that. What the Trump campaign clearly is hoping with the Vance pick is to win back. Let's take Pennsylvania. David Urban, who ran Pennsylvania for Donald Trump in 2016 as an example, is to outperform those the cities and the suburbs in Trump country, like he did in 2016.
TAPPER: Like Western Pennsylvania, where David's from.
BASH: Yeah, with the Vance voter.
DAVID URBAN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yeah, you need to run numbers in Altoona, Blair County.
KING: Where he was in Butler.
URBAN: Right, in Butler, you need to run up those numbers and JD Vance would be very, very popular in Blair County, Cambria County, Westmoreland County, Beaver County, those numbers and that difference, 1,000 votes. It's 67 counties win you the state of Pennsylvania. It's 45,000 and 80,000? It's on the head of a pen.
AXELROD: Yeah. No, listen, this is the political electoral logic of this. As I said earlier, I think hey, Vance is very, very good at making the case. So that is one thing.
The other is those three states, they take any of them in, they blocked Joe Biden from winning this presidency period. End of story.
The question I just have for you is when you look at Vance's position on issues like abortion, for example, how does that play in the suburbs of Philly?
URBAN: Well, it's good --
AXELROD: Which are very, very, or Pittsburgh, which are very important to Pennsylvania.
URBAN: That's the tough needle has to be thread, right? So can -- can those numbers are, you know, are those voters going to be persuaded to vote for Trump in any fashion, have you put Nikki Haley on the ticket? Voters show up in Montgomery County because Nikki Haley is in the ticket. I think not. I think it's -- the thing is to run up those numbers, 70, 80 percent in Luzerne, Lackawanna, Scranton, Macomb County, Michigan.
AXELROD: How about Nikki Haley? She's going to be here tomorrow night to talk about national security, kind of interesting because she hits such -- so much of her campaign was about Ukraine and national security and now you have a guy who has vowed opponent of aid to Ukraine on the ticket ratifying Trump's position on this.
She may have to work on her speech --
PHILLIP: It will be interesting to me to see the effect that Vance has on the Democratic base to your point, David, about his position on abortion, you know, maybe it doesn't help them as much in the suburbs, fine, but will it help mobilize Democratic voters who are already kind of unenthusiastic about this vote? I mean, I think one -- there are the two ways that you can do this if you're Biden, you can either become a whole lot more popular or you can get your people out, right?
Get your people off the couch and abortion, when you talk Democrats, that is going to be big issue how do they resume? Do they resume the argument about the future of American democracy? Can they do that? Is it easier to do that when you have the future of MAGA on the ballot? TAPPER: I think --
PHILLIP: I think those are all the questions that they're looking at right now.
TAPPER: And one of the things that's interesting here on the abortion, Kasie, and I think one of the reasons that were discussing it so much is, A, this is the first presidential election since Roe v. Wade was overturned. And, B, in so many of the elections since Roe v. Wade was overturned, Democrats have, or the -- or the pro abortion rights position has outperformed including in places like Ohio, including in places like Kentucky and Montana.
And I think it's fair to say that Donald Trump and JD Vance both have made it clear they don't want this to be an issue in the election and they think it's a political loser.
Now that doesn't settle, but doesn't settle it. It says they're making a political calculation, not a principled calculation. I think we see their records based on what JD Vance has said and done and what Donald Trump has said and done as the man most responsible for the overturning of Roe v. Wade, other than Mitch McConnell perhaps.
But I do wonder whether that will play role -- JD Vance is saying, no, no, I don't. This is an electoral loser. We shouldn't be talking about this. We shouldn't be focused on this. Will this play a role in the November election?
HUNT: I mean, I think it absolutely is going to play a role in the November elections. I think big picture, I -- in my recent experience covering politics, that is extraordinarily dangerous to assume that what everyone is telling can he was going to happen is going to happen.
Let me tell you, everyone with the Hillary Clinton campaign and the Donald Trump campaign both told me that the same thing was going to happen in 2016. They both said she was going to when and who was going to lose and everybody was wrong. And anyone who suggested anything else in the lead-up to that was ridiculed, including me, which is fine.
But two things on abortion. One what they were looking for down there on that floor today absent what happened in Butler, Pennsylvania, was going to be a fight over abortion and the Republican platform you have, there are people here and they had an operation should a whip operation going specifically designed to prevent people who wanted to make a stick about that from getting to the microphone.
[16:40:07]
They had a plan in place and I spoke to someone this morning who basically said if we can tear up that plan now because no one is going to do that in a moment where they're trying to get unity.
The second thing I will say is we've touched on what an interesting debate we may see between JD Vance and Kamala Harris, and this I think is going to be a central issue there because you've already seeing the Biden campaign messaging focusing in on abortion. She is one of their sort of attack dogs on and this issue. And the idea that she's not going to go right at JD Vance on it, I think --
AXELROD: Well, he has articulated -- his position has been no exceptions for rape, his position has been to endorse the Texas law, which is the most the most extreme in the country. These things are going to come back here. These things are not going to be.
BASH: The one thing I will add is that I was told despite the fact that North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum was making his pitch publicly and privately to Donald Trump about why the bill that he signed in his state, which is extremely strict, a strict ban was -- was okay because he could adopt Donald Trump's position, Trump said publicly that Burgum's position and his record more importantly, on abortion was problematic.
So, yes, it is something that the Republicans don't want to talk about, but they understand that they are going to do because the Democrats will give them no choice.
TAPPER: I tend to think that the positions of the running mate fall by the wayside after the first day or two. I mean, I remember covering Dick Cheney being picked in the for people excited in 2000 because he had voted against the -- I forgot -- he get voted against the Martin Luther King Day holiday or you voted to make the national Congress of a terrorist group. I forget exactly what it was, but at the end of the day, its about the guy at the top of the ticket, not -- not the running mate and the not the running mates' positions that this tends to be what it is.
PHILLIP: That's true, but in this particular case, Donald Trump is also here, there and everywhere on the issue of abortion. So it just makes it a live issue. Trump and his campaign, they wanted platform to kind of neutralize that. That probably wasn't going to happen anywhere certainly not going to happen now. But there's another opportunity or the other side to say these guys are not telling the truth about what they really want to do with power when it comes to the threat.
TAPPER: That is what I wonder about if, if both of them indicated in that brush, but only as an extension of Trump exact, not as his.
PHILLIP: I mean, not to say nobody cares, but people care about the top of the ticket to your point.
TAPPER: Yeah.
PHILLIP: You know, I think about JD Vance though, is the waffling on Trump, but the waffling on principles is going to be an issue for him, right? Like his position changed from the time after he published "Hillbilly Elegy" to when became a candidate for Senate is going to be a question of character for him. And it's not going to go away. I don't think any Democrat in their right mind would let.
TAPPER: I would agree that Democrats are going to use his words, but JD Vance -- and, David Urban, you tell me what you think here and then, Axelrod, and I want to know what you think. I mean, he has he has explained it. You said I was wrong. I was wrong and I am happy that I was wrong.
I mean, and things that he said in private he said in public, he doesn't deny them. I don't even know that he's deleted the tweet.
PHILLIP: Some of them --
TAPPER: But in any case, the point is, he has owned it. I'm not -- I'm not excusing it, or justifying one way or the other, but he doesn't pretend that's not true. He says, yes, I was wrong about Trump.
URBAN: And Vice President Harris has said very unflattering things about Joe Biden. It's the nature of --
TAPPER: She hadn't compared him to Hitler, right, yeah.
URBANA: It's the nature of the game, right? This is -- this is the body politic, in there. It's a full-contact sport. You're running for president. A lot of sharp elbows and look, there's a long laundry list of things that Marco Rubio, JD Vance, and others have said about Donald Trump the they now have their positions of evolved done and they clearly are going to have to, you know, JD said I was wrong, but I'm glad I was wrong about it.
One thing I just point out real quick up by JD Vance of figure to see a lot more of the coming weeks. This notion that he enlisted in the Marine Corps for a lot of you that may not make a big deal big, going to TBS, the basic school -- Marine Corps basic school is hard stuff. It is not a -- you're not a soft palm individual if you make it through the Marine Corps basic school.
Marine Corps boot camp is tough stuff. I think you'll see a lot of pictures of a shaved head, shaved face, JD Vance, during this campaign.
TAPPER: I've never heard an Army guys say such nice things about the marine in my life, in my life, wow.
(CROSSTALK)
TAPPER: Somebody at West Point is swooning right now.
AXELROD: I do think that this military his military record is going to be an asset in those same areas that we were talking about, small towns, rural areas in the -- in the Midwest.
[16:45:03]
But he has said things that he has going to have to account for. There's no doubt, you know, he accused the President Biden of allowing drugs to come into the country as a plot against rural areas and so on. Things that were quite edgy, certainly not in keeping with the he unity party that we are told were going to see now.
But I will tell you this. I sat down with him and I did a podcast with them in 2017. I went -- I'm going -- I'm going to re-issue it on Thursday.
I -- he is a very, very smart guy and anybody underestimates that is making a mistake. A lot of the things that he's saying now, he's sort of mutated a little for the consumption of the MAGA world. But he was talking on these economic issues in, back in 2017, much as he is right now. And that's going to an appeal to a lot of these voters they're targeting.
But one of the things they're so -- one of the things that the American people are going to see quite a bit in the coming days is this private text that JD Vance sent to a friend in 2016. And one of the things about it, there's some pretty incendiary stuff in there. This is when he says, is the America's Hitler, he's talking about Trump.
But before that, he also says this is what I've been calling for in the Republican Party for a long time, which is to embrace working class values. Now, he seemed skeptical that Donald Trump actually had that in his heart and his soul.
But there is a consistency in that level. He wanted the Republican Party to be could the Republican Party of the working class, not just the white working class. And that same text he talks about the black working-class --
WALLACE: To the large degree, as you all know, "Hillbilly Elegy" when it came out in 2015, it was an explanation not on late to the Republican Party, but to the country if you're wondering why these people feel so disaffected and feel so left out of the American dream, here's why. And if -- if you haven't read it, it's a hell of a book. I very much --
AXELROD: I guess is it's going to sell more copies now.
WALLACE: And the point is that a lot of people have said that that he understands MAGA better than and before Donald Trump did. So, I --
TAPPER: Don't say that too loud. He's going to drop him from the ticket, Chris.
WALLACE: But I think that he's going to be an extremely effective spokesman, particularly as you talk about in the blue wall. And that's -- you know, the wall of Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, that isn't Biden's first chance. That's his last chance, assuming he loses all those states from the southern tier.
Having said that, right now, for all of our talk about, well, that's 270, 269, whatever I think we have to consider the fact that right now, if you look at the polls there's a real chance this race could get away from Joe Biden.
TAPPER: Yeah.
WALLACE: I mean, at this point, Virginia is in single-digit. This is a state that hasn't voted for --
BASH: Margin-of-error.
WALLACE: -- a Republican since 2004, George W. Bush, Minnesota is close. New Hampshire, which has been a solid, reliable republic, a Democratic state is now in play.
So, yeah, you know --
TAPPER: But is that because Trump is strong, where because Biden is weak in your view?
WALLACE: Yes.
TAPPER: Both?
WALLACE: Yeah, well, yeah, I mean, I think that -- I think at this point -- and after the horrible events of the last weekend, Trump has even stronger and Biden may be even weaker. So, you know, yes, we can talk about a blue wall and getting to 270, just above or below, this race could get away from Biden.
KING: One of the things they have done that is the smart, though, so far, is that Biden is weak. He's the incumbent president again, through the rules matter when you have a former president running against the current president, I don't know.
But over in history is do you want to keep what you've got? And the American people. Joe Biden's approval rating is in the mid-30s and somewhere in the ballpark of seven and ten Americans don't think he's up to serving after the debate, don't think he's up to serving four more years.
That's -- your choice is framed by what you having or you're moving, right? So that's what the other things, but back to this point, the advanced picked says that they view this election more like 2016. Lessons learned from 2016. They didn't think this one they were running in 2016 because they didn't know how well Jill Stein was going to do and how well Gary Johnson was going to do at the beginning of the campaign.
But they know what happened in the election, and they know why Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, especially Michigan and Wisconsin, where the third party candidate, Robert F. Kennedy, so far, is on nine ballots, including Michigan, Minnesota, and New Mexico, states Biden must win, states where Donald Trump can get to 47, right?
TAPPER: Yeah.
KING: Jill Stein is on the ballot in 18 states, assuming it's not official yet, but she'll likely be the Green Party nominee, including Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Maine, states Biden must win.
Cornell West so far is only on in the states that Biden where he would be a threat in Colorado, as it got if it -- but he's trying to get on the ballot in Michigan and a couple of the other states in the blue wall. With Vance, Mr. Urban's theory there, what they did in 2016 is they brought a whole bunch of new voters.
[16:50:04]
In 2020, some of them went away. If you can turn out people who are disaffected, disillusion, but if they do show up would vote for Donald Trump. And the third party candidates have even a modest impact -- that's the Trump 2016 map, period.
TAPPER: All right. Let's go to Phil Mattingly. He who is on the floor of the convention, which is celebrating that rousing rendition of "Reelin' in the Years" by Steely Dan.
PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CHIEF DOMESTIC CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, the lengthy Steely Dan interlude there, the kind of jam band, give you a sense that they're waiting for something to happen and were giving you a behind the scenes look of what they're waiting for.
This is the behind shot from where Kaitlan was, we expect to in short order, JD Vance, who has been selected by the former president to be his vice presidential nominee, will be walking out that door and towards where Kaitlan was, which is where the Ohio delegation is. And there, the Susie Wiles, Chris LaCivita -- Jake, I'll turn it back to you as were starting to see senior campaign staff walked out and you expect to see JD Vance shortly.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman. Ladies and gentlemen, is now a time for us to determine are nominee for the office of vice president of United States. Senator JD Vance.
(CHEERS)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Senator, Senator, how do you feel?
(MUSIC)
TAPPER: So Senator JD Vance walking through the crowd. He's hung up on -- expectedly, I should say by the Ohio delegation he is a son of Ohio and is represented it Ohio in the U.S. Senate for almost -- about a year-and-a-half, I guess before that, of course, he was a favorite son, having become a huge success despite having come from very humble means, which you can read about in his book "Hillbilly Elegy".
As we watch this, Dana Bash, one of the things that is definitely true is that other than the ones who were passed over, you see a sense a lot of the Republican senators are excited about the fact, given that he is one of them.
I can hear Dana -- I don't what's going on with her audio right now.
Go ahead, Chris.
WALLACE: I was just going to say, I suspect a lot of people are looking at the woman along slide JD Vance, and they're wondering who she is and I just Googled her. It's Usha Vance, who is his wife, and have -- they met at Yale Law School.
She clerked for Supreme Court Justice John Roberts and Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh when he was appeals court judge.
[16:55:06]
She earned degrees from Yale and Cambridge. The daughter of Indian immigrants grew up in the San Diego suburb. So they clearly -- she's another under achiever, these two, here they are running to beat the second family of the United States, JD Vance and Usha Vance.
TAPPER: Yes, they have they had three young children. They've been married for about ten years. And Senator Vance, very short stints in the Senate, but obviously making quite a splash especially with Donald Trump and his families.
BASH: Can you hear me now?
TAPPER: I can.
BASH: OK.
TAPPER: It was my ear, though, my audio was wrong.
BASH: He said he has a lot of a lot of senators who are on the floor are happening. I think most of them are. He is a newbie and the Senate isn't what it once was and I think there's sort of an old school feeling and then there's more of the MAGA wing, which is very much growing and has its grown in the United States Senate.
But, you know, you were talking about some of his personal attributes, the information about his wife, which is fascinating. I'm also just thinking about the fact that as you mentioned, Jake, he's not even 40. He will be 40 years old in August, which means that he was only eligible for this like four years ago, four-and-a-half years ago.
TAPPER: Yeah, he's but that's how young he is and I just want to endorse what Jonah Goldberg said that it is a shame that Gen X is being skipped over for now.
(CROSSTALK)
TAPPER: They've run, they just haven't won.
PHILLIP: And, Jake, yeah, as were waiting here, I just learned that the Vice President Kamala Harris plays to call to JD Vance after he was named they didn't connect, but she left a voicemail. I'm just common courtesy that I guess we have we have stopped having in this country, but perhaps is returning. President Biden called President Trump over the weekend.
JD Vance got a call from the vice president just a courtesy as he is about to get on stage here today.
AXELROD: You know, to Dana's point. I do think in a race where so much of the issue is about the age of the president, to put a 40-year-old on the ticket, is some kind of statements. Now, whether or that induces younger people, they'd take more of an interest or not, at least on the Republican side, I don't know. But, you know, he's the only new generation candidate really, I mean, Kamala Harris is obviously a generation younger than Trump and Biden, but it is a statement of some sort.
PHILLIP: So notable. So I'm sorry, Kasie, I just wanted to say real quick. Its been very notable to me even before all this before JD Vance, Donald Trump is doing very well with young voters in a way that a lot of Republicans do not typically do well. We'll see if JD Vance helps with that, but its certainly I don't think could hurt.
HUNT: Well, I think that you have seen a phenomenon. It's not just an American one populism that we have been talking about that has driven JD Vance to the ticket, it is appealing to young people. We are seeing it in Europe. We are seeing it in the protege of Marine Le Pen in France, kind of cutting a very different profile and reality is, I mean, JD Vance, to David's point Republicans have done a better job in Congress, the Democrats at this.
TAPPER: Let's listen in.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To speak to you all this afternoon to formally nominate the Republican nominee for vice president of the United States.
(CHEERS)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ohio is the heart of it all. And that is certainly the case once again here today. The vice presidency is an office of sacred trust. The man who accepts this nomination accepts with it the awesome responsibility to give wise counsel to the president. To represent America abroad, to preside over the Senate, and to be ready to lead our nation at a moment's notice, such a man must have an America first attitude in his heart, he -- a man.
He must embrace his obligation to the American family, the American worker and the American soldier. He must believe that America is exceptional. And be prepared in the tradition of our founders to pledge his life, his fortune, his sacred honor, to preserve, protect, and defend the --
